Echoes Through Me
by Clickster
Summary: Sango goes for a walk to work off her frustrations and uncertainties about herself. A woman approaches her and bestows a gift that will make her "more lady-like" whether she wants it or not.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: Don't own...yet...

**Chapter One**

Sango stomped through the night woods, not caring how loud she was being. She had long ago abandoned the marked trail, preferring to battle it out with trees and bushes to vent her frustration. Kirara followed closely behind her, watching her with concern, her eyes glowing like embers.

The girl crashed through a wall of thorny growth and found herself in a clearing. It was picturesque and peaceful with a stream cutting through it and a gnarled, old tree blocking out part of the sky. The demon exterminator's rage ebbed slightly just looking at her surroundings.

She sat down under the tree and leaned against it. The demon cat did rings around her, rubbing the girl with her head and meowing sympathetically. Sango sighed and was surprised to find that a few tears had fallen from her eyes. She stubbornly wiped them away and said to the sky, "I'm not going to cry for something that wasn't there."

The demon exterminator sat in the quiet and tried not to pity herself and was losing at it. She glanced at Kirara, who was staring unblinkingly at her, and smiled bitterly. "You know, he says he cares for me and then he goes and pulls a stupid stunt like chasing a pretty girl and getting caught up in something horrible. Then he goes all romantic but later acts like nothing happened and ignoring me completely. Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth the frustration of l..." she wouldn't say that word, she couldn't bring herself to do it so she substituted it with, "liking him."

Kirara, needless to say, offered Sango no verbal consoling, but curled up into a tiny ball in her lap and continued to stare at her in a "I'm listening, go on," sort of way. The girl began to scratch the fire cat behind the ears and continued, "It's so aggravating, never knowing where I truly stand with him. I can't hide my emotions at all, but he's got this perfectly controlled face and you never know what's really going on."

The two sat there under the tree and the demon exterminator was filled with a sudden sense of hopelessness. Nothing made sense and she was lost in a maze of feelings. The feeling that it was all just a lost cause began to mount up and she punched the tree and let out a stress-ridden scream. With her fist still buried into the bark, hot tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.

"You know," a woman said besides her, "you're making a lot of noise and it's very rude." Sango jumped, this person had come from nowhere. She sprang to her feet and assumed a fighting stance while Kirara erupted into flames and emerged in her large form.

The woman was unfazed by both of them. She glared condescendingly at the girl with vivid green eyes and flipped her black, curly hair behind her shoulder. "Dears, I'm out of both your leagues," she told them in a stern tone. The demon exterminator had a gut feeling that it might be true, but if this strange woman intended anything bad, she wouldn't take it quietly.

"Such a tomboy!" the visitor exclaimed. "No wonder you're unsure of his feelings, acting that way." Sango felt her mouth drop slightly and the demon cat hissed in an annoyed way. The woman directed her vivid eyes towards Kirara who leered back for a minute before turning her head away. The girl was surprised, it was unlike the demon to submit and she turned her attention to really examining the woman that stood before her.

She was tall, very tall in fact, and radiated out a majestic, otherworldly presence. Her skin was pale, but not in unhealthy way, and she still managed to have rosy cheeks and very red, full lips. Her hair was long and fell past her waist, partially tied up. While still looking young, her eyes seemed old. Overall, she seemed unreal, like she was from another plane of reality altogether.

"Being so boisterous and tough is not what a young man seeks in a wife. He wants someone who is meek and quiet," the woman told her in a mothering voice. As Sango's glare intensified she added, "And definitely not one so spirited. You're behavior is very unbecoming and un-lady like."

"And I suppose you're married and have the perfect relationship?" the girl snapped out. The woman's eyes lost their motherly light and became hard.

"Keep your mouth shut, girl."

Fueled by anger and stress, Sango continued, "Suppose that's a no. I hope you can mange to pull your foot from your mouth and leave."

Without warning the woman struck, her hand clamping around the demon exterminator's throat. Kirara roared and moved to attack, but the woman waved her free hand and the beast dropped to the ground, unconscious.

She tried to claw at the restricting hand, but it was useless. "Watch your tongue when a superior offers you advice, mortal," the woman scolded and her grip tightened. Sango's struggle ceased, the extra movements couldn't be done with her oxygen being cut off. "You shouldn't speak unless you're spoken too, if at all." She felt energy from her captor's hand clamp around her neck, "Hope you enjoy my gift, dear."

The girl dropped to the ground, the woman suddenly gone. The edges of her vision were starting to fade. _'Mortal?' _Sango thought as the world darkened. _Does that mean she was some kind of..._Her thoughts were left incomplete as she blacked out entirely.

**A/N**: Ohoho! Yet another story...perhaps I should finish the ones I've posted before starting more...? Nyah. Just to clear it up, the woman was a goddess and she won't be making another reappearance. Kudos to you if you can guess who she was based on, except for Krystal, you already know, though it should become more apparent in the next chapter. Note to self, work on summaries! Since I have nothing left to say, I'll end this by begging you guys to review. Yes...so please do so.


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: If I owned the rights to Inu Yasha, I'd take all of the money and buy myself an island. Now, since I don't have my own island, what must I not own?

**Chapter Two**

Miroku was waiting back at the campsite and was starting to worry. He'd thought that since Sango had left her armor, cat suit, and weapons, that she would be coming back shortly from her walk. Two hours later though, he was beginning to wonder if something had happened.

Really though, he had only himself to blame. An old friend, another monk, had sent him a letter requesting his assistance with the removal of a demon that had possessed the headman's daughter. Because it was a simple, routine procedure, he'd opted to leave Kagome and Inu Yasha behind and him and Sango had set out alone.

Of course the demonized girl turned out to be beautiful. Perhaps he shouldn't have flirted so shamelessly in front of the demon exterminator once the girl's body had been evacuated of unwanted beings.

Sango, understandably, became upset so he had decided not to accept the headman's invitation of staying the night. After they had pitched camp, Miroku had expected a slap and maybe an earful from his companion about his behavior, but to his surprise, she had remained quiet and never raised a fist to him.

Knowing that Sango had to be at a whole new level of anger with him, he hadn't stopped her when she had announced that she was going on a walk and made it quite clear that she was going alone.

_I should have gone with her, _the monk thought. _I definitely hurt her feelings today and not offering to go with her, despite her conviction that she'd go alone, probably made her feel worse. _

As Miroku sat belittling himself and calling himself seven kinds of idiot, something crept up behind him. The only thing that alerted the young man to its presence was when it made a wrong step and a leaf crunched. He picked up his staff and spun in the direction that the sound had come from. He scanned the area, but nothing was there.

Something bumped him in the small of his back and he whipped his staff around, stopping only inches from the center of its head. It took him a moment to realize it was Kirara. When her mistress didn't appear behind her, he asked the beast, "Where's Sango?"

The demon grabbed his robes gently in her mouth and tugged slightly, a clear indication that she wanted the monk to follow. She walked into the forest growth and he followed close behind her.

Kirara led him through the brush for twenty minutes before they came to the clearing.

Miroku noticed Sango lying under the tree right away. He rushed to her side and knelt down and sat her halfway up. The demon exterminator's head rolled to the side and her body was completely limp. The monk's heartbeat sped up and he feared the worse.

His terror subsided though when he saw her chest rise and fall. _Good, she's breathing, _he told himself. "Sango," he called. When she didn't wake up he tapped her cheek lightly and said her name again. The girl's eyes opened slowly this time.

"Are you ok?" Miroku asked, concern heavy in his voice.

"Ok," the demon exterminator replied groggily. She smiled sleepily at him and noticed that with the light of the moon behind him, the monk's face looked like it was glowing. Sango saw Kirara hovering over her shoulder and she clumsily reached out to reassure the demon cat. Her movements were heavy and slow with sleep.

Miroku lifted her up and the girl leaned all of her weight on him and then promptly fell asleep. The monk maneuvered her so that he could carry her on his back. Once he had, he followed Kirara back to the camp.

--

Sango woke up the next morning with a headache and an itchy throat. She didn't immediately get up; instead she lied in her bedroll and tried to recall last night's events. The girl remembered the strange woman and blacking out, but had no idea how she'd gotten back.

Miroku noticed that she was awake and brought her some bread to eat. The demon exterminator felt ravenous and she consumed it greedily. The monk smiled and asked, "So, how do you feel?"

She brushed the crumbs from her hands and off of her clothes and tried to answer him with a, '_Not so good,' _but what came out was, "So, how do you feel?" Miroku cocked an eyebrow at her answer. Sango cleared her throat and tried again, but still got the same result.

Now she was just getting annoyed with herself. This time she gave her full concentration to saying the words, 'Not so good.' As soon as her mouth opened though, something clamped around her throat. Filled with panic, she tried to claw whatever was stopping her speech from her skin, but only managed to scratch up her neck.

"Sango, what's wrong?" Miroku asked her. He grabbed her hands to make her stop attacking her flesh.

She tried to tell him, but the awful restriction returned. It hurt and made breathing hard. In the end she pointed at her throat and said, "Wrong."

Sudden realization dawned on Sango. _That disgusting woman! _she raged in her head, _I can't speak anymore! No, I can talk, just not my own words! _She stood up and tried to convey this to the monk but all she could do was scream, "Sango, what's wrong!"

Miroku looked at Kirara, who looked just as perplexed as he was, and asked the girl, "Why are you echoing me?"

She looked him straight in the eye and picked out one word from his last sentence. She pointed at herself and said, "Echoing."

Miroku was still left in the dark.

A/N:You know, I woke up this morning and for some reason I was dead set on taking this story down. Don't know why...but then I saw the reviews and I decided not to. Man, you guys rule! I was hopping around going, "Yes!" all morning. I didn't think anyone would like this. That last bit was kind of tricky for me to write. I had real difficulty trying to express what was happening. If you've read the myth about Echo and Hera, well then your good to go, I just improvised it a little. Sango can't speak, but she can pick out what she wants to say form whatever she's heard and put her own inflection on it. Does that make sense? I hope so. Later you guys will see how this is supposed to make her "lady-like."


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